A Sip & See for Ellis Paige

On Sunday, June 1, 2014 we had a Sip & See Shower for Ellis.  Sip & See's are gaining popularity and are basically a baby shower held after the baby is born so that other people can come by and meet the baby!  Since Ellis was born in Austin, there were lots of people back in DFW who hadn't met her yet.  This gave everyone a chance to come by and see our baby girl and indulge in a cupcake and punch!

My mother in law, Claire, was nice enough to host the shower at her house!  Ellis looked beautiful!  I dressed her in a baby blue smocked dress that actually belonged to Kyle's sister, Sara, when she was a baby!  

The lovely hostesses!  Claire, Kori, Mom and her helper, Evin Kate

 

The table looked so cute!  Lots of pretty newborn pics of Ellis and some beautiful pink flowers, plus cupcakes, snacks and drinks.

 

Everyone loved holding Ellis, who slept basically the whole time!  These ladies were all friends of Kyle's grandmother, Ginks.  Claire still keeps in touch with all of them and has lunch with them once a month.  

More love for Ellis!

It was a great turnout and I was so glad so many people were able to make it.

 

Evin was quite content at the Sip & See.  She found lots of people to walk around with, enjoyed a cupcake, and even needed her dress tied up so she could get around easier!  She's a busy girl!

 

Looking at her crazy auntie!

 

After the guests left, I opened lots of wonderful presents.  I didn't even expect to get any, but everyone was really generous and I got some CUTE things for Ellis, as well as some great necessities off my registry for our move to Chicago.  

Grandparents & Ellis!  Mums, Gran and Pops love this little bundle!

 

Aunt Kori

Sisters and Cousins!  I can't wait until they are old enough to play together!

  

Us with Mums

and Gran

I am so thankful I get to be her Mommy!

 

I took a few more pictures of Ellis in her dress when we got home that day.  We are so happy to have this sweet girl as our own!

Friends and Family

We made another trip back to Mansfield near the end of September (9-20-13) so we could go to Lane's little friend Beck's first birthday party.  Beck belongs to Brittany and Collin who are good friends of ours and are moving to Australia!  I went to high school with Brittany and she remains my closest high school friend.  We got there on a Friday, driving in the pouring rain.  It took 5 hours to get from Austin to my mom's house!!  We were glad to see drier skies and had fun playing with Evin and watching Lane play t-ball outside.

She's still not too sure about her big cousin, Lane.

Watching Lane hit some balls in Mums' backyard

Lane was cracking us up.  He kept trying to hit the ball with his eyes closed and was hitting it even harder than he does with them open!

 

I gave Evin a special gift after her heart surgery.  I found the cutest little dolls online that are handmade by a lady and are meant for heart surgery patients.  I got to pick the doll's hair color/style and eye color, and the lady stitched a little scar on the doll's chest just like Evin's scar!  She stitched Evin's name on the foot with a little heart, and it is just so cute.  Another special part is that I was able to send her one of my dad's old dress shirts and she sewed the doll's dress and bow out of the shirt.  

 

Evin and I posed with her look-alike dolly!

 

On Sunday the 22nd, we went to Beck's 1st birthday party.  It was a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme and was so, so cute!

 

My little wild thing loved his crown!

And the birthday boy loved his cake!

 

Get it, Beck!  Who needs forks OR fingers!??

Roaring like a Wild Thing! 

Cake and "Pree Suns" as Lane calls them!

Guess he got a little too wild at the party!  Sweet boy passed out on the drive home, crown and all!

Showing off his "disguise" party favor that night.

 

The next day we ended up deciding to take a trip to Brady/San Angelo to see Paw and the rest of the gang.  We stopped off to visit at Paw's for a while on our way to San Angelo.  Poor Lane ended up getting a headache while we were there and was not feeling well at all.  When we got in the car to leave Paw's and drive to Kathy's he puked all over himself in his car seat.  We almost just went on back to Austin, but he wasn't running fever and we pretty much decided he just drank some bad milk.  He was begging to still go to Kathy's, so we went ahead.  Halfway to Kathy's he started feeling much better and was just fine the rest of the trip!

Marley and Mia were buddies!

 

Painting Halloween suncatchers 

Marley dressed up Mia in her princess gear!

We also got to take a lunch trip to Mr. Gatti's.  This has become one of Lane and Marley's favorite things to do when we visit.  

Excited for pizza and games! 

They played games, bounced in the bounce houses, ate pizza, and redeemed their tickets for prizes.  Fun times!  

2 crazy kids with their loot!

That afternoon we headed back to Austin so we could get back in time for Lane's swimming lessons that night.  Lane HATES goodbyes, especially to grandparents.  He gave Mums a quick kiss and hug...

Mustered up a fake smile...

And as we drove off his smile quickly turned to a frown complete with tears.  Poor buddy gets so upset when we leave!  He kept saying "But I was having such a fun time there!"  It makes me so sad that he has to say goodbye every time we are around family.  Maybe someday we will be back in DFW with our loved ones!  :-(

Luckily, Daddy put a smile on the little man's face by surprising us at his swimming lessons!  Kyle usually doesn't leave work in time to come, but made sure he could be there to greet Lane this time.  It was a good distraction for Lane and we enjoyed dinner at Panera after his lesson.